Pantheon
by The Satyricon
Summary: KWIZ's Billy Batson follows a story to Smallville and teams up with Chloe Sullivan...Captain Marvel and Clark Kent team up as well...SIXTH story in the Icon Chlark AU series....Be kind, review kindly!
1. Chapter 1

**Pantheon**

**Chapter One**

The Smallville High School Science and Agricultural Fair was, like Homecoming Week, the carnival, and other civic events, a highlight of the school year and for the small town. All four grades of students at the high school were invited (or some were punished) to submit projects and the ones that won the contest were the ones that new, fresh takes on old ideas in either area.

Usually blue ribbons and an article in the local paper, the Ledger, were awarded to those that were deemed the best project. Starting this school year, however, Luthorcorp, as a goodwill gesture to the community, and as a way to recruit new talent (and steal ideas) offered the winners of every class a personal chat with CEO and business overlord Lionel Luthor, his son Lex Luthor, and a chance to be at the grand opening and visit the new Cadmus-Kathryn NeoPharmaceuticals Research Laboratory that Lionel just opened near the Luthorcorp Processing Plant.

Students joined up or went solo on their projects. Many frantically began working, especially the seniors, because winning the prize would look good on their college application or maybe even better, a spot at one of Luthorcorp's prestigious science facilities.

For the freshmen class, it was no different. Alicia Baker, winner of the grade school science fair the year before was the odds on favorite to win, especially with her planned transportation concept, but their were many possible contenders. Pete Ross and Lana Lang paired up and were working on a better feed for horses based on cornmeal. Paul Chan was devising a better form of government. Jodi Melville was creating a fat-free lard. Sasha Woodman was trying to come up with a honey substitute.

Others, like Clark Kent and Chloe Sullivan still hadn't decided what to work on. No one in their class doubted that they were going to pair up, but everyone would be surprised that they weren't even working on the project. Their after school meetings had begun with good intentions, of working on homework or planning on the project.

Then their hormones would kick in. After months of being all but boyfriend/girlfriend in name only, they were officially a couple. They were dating and kissing was what they did on study breaks after school. Lately, it was more kissing and less studying. And they didn't mind.

Their first kiss was framed by tattered clothes, dried blood, destroyed structures, dead people and chimpanzee-caused chaos, but now, inside Chloe Sullivan's townhouse, it was toasty warm, and the heat emanating from the teens was smoldering. The weather outside was windy, the cold front blanketed Lowell County hard. In a safe and darkened den, Clark and Chloe kissed leisurely, languidly, and lovenly.

Chloe was half-draped on Clark, her arms wrapped around his neck, her eyes closed, her lips pressed against his'. Clark's hands were on her hips while he laid back against the cushions.

Ten minutes after Clark positioned her against the armrest, Chloe felt like she was on fire.

"Break, break, break," she murmured against his lips. She scooted up and rubbed the moisture from her neck and breathed while Clark moved back to his side of the love seat. "Let's not get too carried away...Dad will be home soon."

"Ok," Clark whispered. "We should at least open some books."

"Yeah," Chloe agreed and pulled out a text book from her huge knapsack. Clark did the same, yanking one from his red backpack.

"I say we do something with meteor rocks," Chloe said innocently enough. Clark froze, but knew if he stayed silent, she would take that as his normal agreeing with her.

"No...someone has done a project on them since 1990," Clark reasoned. "They are old news, fair-wise."

"But we could do something about mutation and rocks and...," Chloe's voice trailed off; she saw the look on Clark's face. 'What's up with you and the rocks?' she thought to ask, but didn't. With Clark, their was always something up with those rocks. 'Maybe not now, but I **will **do something with that meteor,' she spoke to herself, and turned to Clark. "Ok, maybe not THIS year. What are you going propose to me? I hope nothing about cows."

"No cows?" Clark pretended to be even more dejected and sat back. "I'm hurt."

"Really?" Chloe knew that Clark could be surprisingly sensitive; any talk about meteor rocks, meteor freaks and general weirdness that occurs in Smallville could dampen Clark's mood. Even poking fun about his Pokemon card collection could cause sparks.

"I have a sense of humor, Chloe." Clark smiled, that toothy grin that melted her. Or in this case, kept her melty. "But cows coulda been a contender."

"Jerk!" She laughed. but quickly her lips were kissing him.

They got carried away.

Worse, Clark was so into kissing Chloe (and where their hands were roaming around) that his acute superhearing did not register that Gabe Sullivan, Chloe's doting father arrived home from his job at the processing plant. Or that Gabe entered his house. Or that he was approximately five feet away from them, walking down the hallway. At T-Minus four feet, Clark heard a new heartbeat and realized that it belonged to Gabe.

In a second, Clark pushed Chloe away, leaving poor Chloe kissing air. She gave him a quizzical look and she opened her mouth to speak, but silenced her by whispering, "Your dad is here."

"Hey kids...what's up?" Gabe said, ambling into the den. He looked at Chloe. She looked mortified and disheveled, her hair a little messed up and she rubbed the sweat from her palms on her pants. Clark surprised both of them by curiously sitting on the far side of the other couch in the room, jaw set in stone, eyes bloodshot, textbook on his lap.

'NOTHING! NOTHING'S UP!" Chloe yelped, and smoothed out her hair.

"I hate green Jell-O," Clark said lamely. Chloe just look at him and mouthed, "Way to go."

"Riiiiiight. I hope you two don't mind if I sit in on the last half of your study session and watch the boob tube," Gabe said and plopped down on his Laz-E-Boy chair. "Chloe...do you know what we called study sessions when the parents weren't home?"

She started to give an answer but shook his head. "No."

"Make-out sessions," Gabe finished and found the news channel. The six o'clock news was going to start.

"DAD!" Chloe yelled.

"Don't worry, honey...I know you two are working hard. What's tonight's homework?"

"Math," Chloe answered just when Clark said "History." She glared at her boyfriend.

"I shoulda said 'hardly working," Gabe laughed. Maybe they were kissing but until they seemed seriously into the relationship, Gabe wasn't going to chastise either of them. Yet.

The news telecast begun and Chloe and Clark tried to work, but they watched the broadcast with her dad. In the news that day, the anchor stated that an aircraft carrying millionaire industrialist Oliver Queen went down and that his body was missing. Just when the other anchor started report on young billionaire Bruce Wayne's tribute to Queen, the first anchor interrupted her with breaking news from Fawcett City, courtesy WHIZ-TV.

"Once again, terror was thwarted by the metahuman Captain Marvel," the youthful newscaster reported. "Here is the caught on camera footage of the Captain triumphing over known terrorist Sivana..."

"Gosh!" Chloe yelled and crawled on all fours to the television. She stopped and read the graphic under the newscaster, 'Billy Batson, WHIZ-TV news'. She looked over her shoulder at guys in her life. "That kid has to be the same age as me!"

"Yeah," Clark agreed, trying hard to look straight at the screen.

"Batson was like a junior reporter for the Fawcett City paper, but he was so good, he got a TV job," Gabe said. "I think he's a showoff. But the Captain? He's a godsend."

"Captain Marvel? I know metahumans are coming out of nowhere...BUT WHY WASN'T I INFORMED OF BATSON?" Chloe screamed and to Clark's dismay, sat on her heels.; investigative reporting was in her blood and she was toiling away in a hick town while this...this KID was on television reporting a story that she was already thinking that she could have written much better. "I am so a better reporter than he is."

Metahumans was the blanket term for humans that were endowed with special abilities and powers that set them apart from normal humans. For Chloe, they were just like meteor freaks, but not as close to home.

"I never heard of the Captain...I thought he was the football team's mascot," Clark admitted.

"No...that's where the team got its name," Gabe informed. "Just watch."

Suddenly, the footage switched from the reporter to footage from a hand-held cam and Clark's focus switched too, from Chloe to what happened on screen. He saw the good Captain fight, and to his shock, fly.

"Cool," Clark said and both Chloe and Gabe agreed that the Captain's abilities were amazing. But Clark felt that he had a kin in the Captain, and that he was not alone in the world.

Chloe went back and sat by Clark. She looked at him and saw that he was looking at the repeat footage of the Captain with the same intenseness that he looked at her. She wanted that back. "Hey...Marvel is Fawcett City's hometown hero like your mine." Gabe cleared his throat. "Like Smallville's hero," Chloe corrected.

"Except you don't have any powers or a publicity department," she smiled at him when Clark looked at her. "I could write about you saving me again and turn that into the Ledger..."

"Thanks ba...Chloe." Clark almost said 'babe' and her eyes went eyed; 'Babe" was vocabulary non-grata for the time being. "But let's concentrate on the science fair."

The teens bounced ideas for the project back and forth and Gabe even offered ideas about fertilizer and sewage. But other than thinking about kissing each other, Chloe and Clark thought about the footage they had seen; Chloe was jealous of Billy Batson and Clark was inspired by Captain Marvel.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER Two  
**

"_Once again, terror was thwarted by the meta-human Captain Marvel," _the youthful newscaster reported_. "Here is the caught on camera footage of the Captain triumphing over known terrorist Sivana.._."

"Gosh!" Chloe yelled and crawled on all fours to the television. She stopped and read the graphic under the newscaster, '**Billy Batson, WHIZ-TV news**'. She looked over her shoulder at the guys in her life. "That kid has to be the same age as me!"

"Yeah," Clark agreed, trying hard to look straight at the screen, not at how she was positioned, especially with her father in the room.

"Billy Batson was a junior reporter for the Fawcett City paper, but he was so good, he got a TV job," Gabe said. He thought of Chloe and how seeing this could affect her. "I think he's too young to do dangerous stories. But the Captain? He's a godsend."

"Captain Marvel? I know meta-humans are coming out of nowhere...BUT WHY WASN'T I INFORMED OF BILLY BATSON?" Chloe screamed and, to Clark's dismay, sat on her heels; investigative reporting was in Chloe's blood and she felt that she was toiling away in a hick town while this...this KID was on television reporting a story that she was already thinking that she could have written much better. "I am so a better reporter than he is."

Meta-humans was the media's blanket term for humans that were endowed with special abilities and powers that set them apart from normal humans. For Chloe, they were just like meteor freaks, but not as close to home.

"I never heard of the Captain...I thought he was the football team's mascot," Clark admitted.

"No...that's where the team got its name," Gabe informed. "Just watch."

Suddenly, the footage switched from the reporter to footage from a hand-held cam and Clark's focus switched too, from Chloe to what happened on screen. He saw the good Captain fight, and to his shock, fly.

"Cool," Clark said and both Chloe and Gabe agreed that the Captain's abilities were amazing. But Clark felt that he had a kin in the Captain, and that he was not alone in the world; he had some that could do _some_ of things that he could do.

Chloe went back and sat by Clark on the couch. She looked at him and saw that he was looking at the repeat footage of the Captain with the same intenseness he would look at her. She wanted that focus back. "Hey...Captain Marvel is Fawcett City's hometown hero like you're mine." Gabe cleared his throat. "Like Smallville's hero," Chloe corrected.

"Except you don't have any powers or a publicity department," she smiled at him when Clark looked at her wide-eyed. "I could write about you saving me yet again and turn that into the Ledger..." She got out a post -it and on that sticky scribbled her headline, 'Smallville's Superboy, Clark Kent'.

"Thanks Ba...Chloe." Clark almost said 'babe' and her eyes went wide; 'Babe" was vocabulary _non-grata_ for the time being. "But let's concentrate on the science fair."

The teens bounced ideas for the project back and forth and Gabe even offered that they should prove that beans were indeed the musical fruit. But talk of the fair couldn't keep their concentration. Other than thinking about kissing each other, Chloe and Clark thought about the footage they had seen; Chloe was jealous of Billy Batson and Clark was inspired by Captain Marvel.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER Three  
**

Professor Sivana came to Smallville, and Hell came with him.

Deep in sub-basement G-15 of the Cadmus-Kathryn Neopharmaceuticals Laboratory in the outskirts of town, Sivana, the original 'Mad Scientist', a five foot one, thin, bald, wizened old man in a white buckled lab-smock and pants, huge black boots, and absurdly thick glasses looked at the hundreds of test tubes he brought from Fawcett City. He had more but ...

_Fawcett City  
To the residents of the city, the abandoned tool-die factory was a sign of economic downturn. To Sivana, it was home. Here, in the dark, in the dust and cobwebs, he created his bizarre machines and his genetic freaks, all for one purpose: control. Control of the city, control of the country eventually. But more importantly, control of the menace that had kept his grandiose ideas housed in an abandoned factory. Control of Captain Marvel._

_The tiny man shivered. Just thinking of that menace made the mad scientist quake. What Sivana didn't know was that the Captain was a being of magic and mortal combined: when 14 year old Billy Batson, reporter for WHIZ-TV in Fawcett City, said the name of an ancient wizard, SHAZAM, the teen was magically transformed into the world's mightiest mortal, Captain Marvel. Each letter in the mystical name came from a God that imbued him with something special: S stood for **S**olomon, from whom Captain Marvel received wisdom; **H**ercules gave strength; **A**tlas gave the gift of stamina; **Z**eus bestowed power; **A**chilles gave the gift of courage; and finally, **M**ercury gave Captain Marvel the gift of speed. In addition to all that, he could fly. All these gifts made the Captain a superhuman being. He was epitome of all that is good. He was the polar opposite of Sivana._

_Because of Captain Marvel's constant interference, Sivana was actually glad to be leaving the city for some out-of-the-way town: Smallville. Lionel Luthor, the business magnate made Sivana a deal, one that Sivana couldn't pass up. He remembered that Lionel was behind his desk when he entered the office._

_"Dr. T.B. Sivana...How wonderful to finally meet such genius," Lionel said with perfect insincerity._

_"I was nearing... thrilling scientific breakthroughs ...in My work," The little man said in raspy staccato bursts and drew closer to the desk. Lionel's finger was on the panic button, ready. "I was close... to accomplishing ...several goals. And you call me in... to tell me... that I am a genius? I KNOW THAT, LUTHOR! Get... To... The... Point."_

_"So brusque, so ...angry," Lionel said with a smile that hid his anger; no one before spoke to the Lion like that in his den._

_"Don't forget to add 'so very dangerous'," Sivana said. "Talk, Luthor."_

_"I just acquired Cadmus-Katheryn Neopharmaceuticals. You know how they are becoming leaders in the field of bio-genetics," Lionel informed._

_"Yes yes yes," Sivana said. He seemed to perpetually move, think, plan ahead. "Speak more."_

_"I want you to you to conduct your...experiments for me, using CKNP's labs and equipment," Luthor proposed._

_"I see," Sivana said and actually stopped moving. His radical experiments were always done on the run, never conducted the same place for more than two weeks at a time. The idea intrigued him. "Build a lab in Fawcett City?"_

_"Alpha phase, yes," Lionel said; Fawcett City was to Sivana much like Metropolis was to Lionel. 'Except don't have to hide,' Lionel thought. "You will be safe and secure."_

_"Alpha?" Sivana looked at Luthor. _

_"Then the Omega phase ends in Smallville," Lionel finished. He explained his theories and they genuinely excited Sivana. "So, are we in agreement?"_

_"Yes," Sivana said. "I will cultivate the worms in Fawcett City. Then bring them to Smallville to flourish."_

_"I will fund everything," Lionel said. "But our names will not be involved and I will disavow any knowledge of you."_

_"Of course," Sivana nodded. "And you will clear any and all obstacles in our path? I seem to have acquired a rather marvelous nemesis..."_

_"Haven't we all, Sivana?" Lionel asked. "Haven't we all?"_

_They shook hands and Lionel was surprised at the old man's strong grip, even though he didn't wince. Sivana left, back to Fawcett city, back to his beloved city, back to own bio-chemical war zone._

The boom rattled the basement and Sivana knew what would cause it. He looked at a security monitor. He saw another lightning bolt crash on the concrete outside. He cursed; the lighting bolt was the good Captain's calling card. He went to a console and pressed a button. 25 of his hench-mechas ratcheted to life. The simplistic design of the mechas hadn't changed in years; they looked like harmless clockwork mannequins, some tall, some short, a few bulky, others streamlined, each a conglomeration of gears spinning, cogs whirring, and levers clicking. But the technology was cutting edge. The Clockwork Mechas looked amusing, but they were built to kill; the Fawcett City Police Department could attest to that: they were still finding pieces of their former chief of police. The heads of the machines swiveled and lifeless visual sensors spotted their maker and waited for instructions. 'Babbage was a pansy,' Sivana thought when he looked at his army.

"Protect Me. Attack and Destroy Captain Marvel," said the little deadly man.

The mechas moved with a speed that belied their cumbersome appearance. They raced outside. Sivana smiled and watched the mechas swarm around the Captain, the smaller mechas already shooting lasers. The mechas rushed Captain Marvel and Sivana's smile went away; Marvel was tossing aside the biggest one first and drove his fists into the rest of on-comers. The blades, the saws, the lasers, the missile projectiles that the mechas had in their arsenals hit Marvel and shoved the Captain back.

"Aww...That's nothing," The Captain said to the advancing robots and raced headlong into them again. He knew that they were a deadly barrier between him and Sivana, and Sivana was deadliest of them all. Several of metal hands of the mechas grabbed hold of the Captain's tunic, his hair, his arms and while he flailed and hurled the clockwork beasts aside, more would try to stop him, or worse, deliver the kill shot. The Captain gritted his teeth and threw roundhouse blows, scattering the gear shaft gang.

**WHAM!**

Captain Marvel was pounded deep into the asphalt by Sivana's largest mechas, the Megatroids. Marvel shook his head and wiped the gravel from his hair. "So its gunna be like that?" Marvel asked and his reply was whirring of the motors in the robot. In a blink, Marvel flew and twisted the arm of the killbot and grabbed the headpieces of two other mechas and tore them off. He knew that the mechas were allowing Sivana to sneak off and the Captain knew he had to charge into the factory. Marvel spread his arms wide and shot himself into the air like a cannonball, scooping the mechas in front of him, flying and smashing through the the brick wall of the factory.

**BOOM!**

All of the windows in the factory shattered and there was a shudder in the entire factory that told Sivana that Marvel got through the mad-scientist's line of defense. He looked at his 2 best mechas. He named them, even, a folly that he attributed to his old age. "Himmler, Eichmann...Protect Me. We leave now."

The mechas listened and the wizened killer was carried by Himmler and both mechas ran through the upper levels of the factory, and he heard the sounds of battle, between his remaining, operating mechas and Marvel. The mechas got into a freight elevator and they made it to the roof.

"Eichmann, the gyro...Himmler...cover fire," the little man barked and the mechas complied; the first mecha revealed the gyro copter Sivana himself built, and the second mecha went into a battle stance, ready to open machine-gun fire on Marvel. When Eichmann was done prepping the 'copter it went into a battle stance as well. Below them, Sivana heard the battle between the other mechas and Captain Marvel raged into the factory. Lights flickered and the walls cracked. A section of the ceiling broke away behind the 'copter.

"To me!" Sivana yelled and Himmler and Eichmann retreated. With that, Sivana piloted up into the night.

"Goodbye Fawcett City. To Hell with you, Marvel!" Sivana smiled. He laced the factory with explosives for just this moment. He pressed a pressed a button on the 'copter's console and the entire factory imploded, 5 stories caving in on each other. Gas barrels and oil barrels exploded. The entire city block shook. The factory, once standing proud, now lie in ruins. The dust carried microbes that would sicken the populace for weeks.

The tiny frail-looking man went to Smallville, and Hell went with him.

_But he left one thing behind._

Below, amid the wreckage, a hand broke through the rubble. A broad shouldered figure pulled himself out from the metal, concrete and brick torn asunder from the multiple explosions. Captain Marvel stood, all 6 foot 3 inches of power and justice. The sleeves of his bright red uniform with the iconic yellow lightning-bolt on the chest were smudged from the smoke billowing and he wiped off the ashes from the fire and crumbs from the rubble off his face. He flung his white half-cape back over his shoulder and shook his yellow boot from the shattered brick. He looked around and he spotted a box and before the box caught on fire, he read on it "Luthorcorp". Flames engulfed Captain Marvel harmlessly and he smiled; Sivana could never hide for too long.

Captain Marvel was going to Smallville, and Justice was coming with him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

It was a dreary Friday evening, with the cold and wind earlier that week turning worse, with raindrops pelting the county-side, and that did not please Lana Lang. She co-owned (with Lex Luthor, who felt it was a wise move for a twenty-something millionaire to partner up with a 15 year old to run a business; Lana herself wondered about that, but she was dating an 18 year old and thought that it was just the way of her world) the Talon the local old fashioned theater-slash-modern coffeehouse, and the bad weather made for a sparse crowd. Adding to the that, Smallville High School's football team, the Crows, were playing against River Plate High Silversmiths, and the Crows were the visiting team. Many on the squad were always at the Talon, including Lana's boyfriend, star senior quarterback Whitney Fordman, and her friend, running back Pete Ross.

Lana tuned the Talon's sound-system to the radio broadcast of the game for the students and young adults that didn't brave the weather and the long drive out of town to see the game. She grabbed a tall mocha latte and sat with her friend, Chloe Sullivan in the booth at the far back of the Talon. There was a small table in front of a half-circular plush couch; it was Chloe and her boyfriend, Clark, usual table.

"I'm thinking of getting a karaoke machine...maybe that will bring in more people on game night.," Lana said while she slid the caffeine-laden drink on the table in front her clearly perturbed friend. The thin brunette plopped down on the cushion and sipped her own hot chocolate. She looked at Chloe, who looked equal parts water logged and confused.

"Ugh...we'll be subjected to crazies sing '_I Love Rock and Roll_' off-key," the blond, flippy-haired reporter. She was busy listening to the broadcast, scribbling notes.

"We sang that at my sleep-over...," Lana whispered and settled into the warm booth. The girls seemed to be bonding more and more lately; That was a crazy Satyrday night spent with the girls calling over to Clark's house. They both chatted with him and Pete, who stayed at his best friend's house that evening. After the call, they watched dvds, ate too much popcorn, and stayed up until 5 AM. "I had fun."

"Oh...sorry. Me too," Chloe said. "I think that's a good idea...maybe get a big screen TV to show the games," Chloe said quickly, hoping her idea could soothe over her trampling over Lana's feelings. "Even games like Met U Bulldog and Metropolis Knights football games."

"I'd like to promote local sports," Lana said, then sipped. "Shenanigan's and Logan's has the monopoly on college and pro games. When did you become the sports buff?"

"Ew. I'm _not_. But I do listen to Clark and My dad watch the games," Chloe smiled. "But not enough, I think. I'm lost listening to the game on the radio." Chloe sat back, frowned dramatically, and was just about to say something when the announcer say that Pete ran in for another touchdown.

"Wooooooooooooo!" Lana yelled, shaking Chloe out of the doldrums.

"What? What happened?"

"Pete just scored!" Lana said with a big smile; she and Pete have been classmates since pre-school, and she was happy for her friend. She liked and talked to Pete even though they seemed to go separate ways in the last couple of grades in middle school. Pete was best buds with Clark Kent and they were, to be blunt, not in Lana's cool clique.

"He did? Awesome!" Chloe grinned. She looked at the speaker on the wall. "But I missed the call! Did you hear how?"

"All I heard was "Touchdown Ross"...sorry."

"I'll try and get Pete and Whitney on the phone later for a interview and high lites of the game," Chloe said dejectedly.

"Sports isn't your beat...where's Clark? Not at the game?"

"Clark had stupid chores!" Chloe said with such ferocity that Lana shot back in the seat. "He couldn't go and cover the football game, that with all the rain, there was so much work to be done around the farm," Chloe saw said and saw the disapproving look on Lana's face. "What?"

"That actually is a good reason," Lana said. "Farm life is hard, and you know they don't hire help."

Chloe looked at Lana and was surprised how levelheaded Lana was at that moment. "I sorta snapped at him because of it. But I was...I mean, the Torch was left in the lurch."

_Chloe thought of that afternoon..._

_"Fine," Chloe said and stomped around the desks in the Torch, the office's for the school newspaper. "Do your chores...I'll write the story and get the interviews and get the paper ready ALL by myself."_

_"Sorry, Chloe," Clark said weakly. He stepped forward to hug her, but Chloe sat in her chair._

_"If it were Pete passing on a story, I'd kick him in the shins," Chloe said. "So no hugs for you."_

_Clark walked out and Chloe threw her bitten-upon pen to the floor. She was angry, arms crossed, more mad at the situation than at Clark. _

"He totally skips out on a story," Chloe says talking faster and starting to get out of her seat. "And he skips out on me! I walked from school here in this rainstorm! I'm all wet!"

"I'm sure he'll help with the story,"Lana said. "He's Mister Reliable."

"He's super-reliable... I know he will." she sighs. "Sometimes I wish he'd take being a reporter more seriously."

"Is that really the problem?" Lana asked.

"The problem in paradise is the science fair," Chloe admitted. She told Lana, that all of Clark's ideas were woefully bland and boring, while Clark shot down her attempts to do a project with a connection to the meteor rocks. Neither of them could settle on a project, and they were both getting snippy with each other.

"Clark snippy?" Lana wondered. "That is so unlike him."

"Well...he's bad at being snippy," Chloe smiled. "His strongest comeback is being silent. " She laughed and so did Lana. "But he better me call soon."

"Yeah...Chores are one thing, not calling is another," Lana said and drank from her cup. "Be firm and make sure he knows he did wrong if he doesn't call." Chloe nodded and tried to follow the game. But the evening, and the game dragged on and Chloe was getting a little more irate with Clark; he had called her yet.

"Right now I'm half-worried and half-ticked off at him." Chloe said and bit into the Martha Muffin that Lana gave her; Clark's mom muffins were the best in town.

"Still no call?" Lana slid back next to her. Just her and two other waitresses were needed tonight thanks to the weather.

"He always calls," Chloe said and bit her pen. "Maybe something happened...maybe he saved somebody."

"That's the only reason you should talk to him over the weekend," Lana said and they both giggled.

"He makes it hard to be mad at him," Chloe admitted; she was mad because she and Clark were pretty much inseparable lately.

Into the Talon walked a figure, wet and drenched, red sweater and blue jeans dripping from the rain.

"Look what the cat dragged..." Lana started to say and stopped.

"Clark!" Chloe smiled and looked.

But it wasn't Clark.

It was Billy Batson.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Rain was usually a good thing to the farmers in Smallville. But this year, the rainy season hit early and hard and caused some flooding that swamped some homes in the basin and mudslides in the hilly areas. It was serious trouble. For the Kents, it was no different. The farmland they owned had plenty of hills and dales and all that land and all the livestock created huge plots of mud. The poor animals, be it the cows or bulls to the chickens that escaped the hen house were stranded on lumps of softening land or, sadly, drowned.

Right after he got home from school, Jonathan and Clark went out back into the rain. They repaired what the rainstorm wrecked and waited for the skies to darken even more. Under the heavy rain and darkness of dusk, it was safe for Clark to use his super-strength and speed to get the cattle to safer group. Jonathan clapped his son on the back after each rescue, proud and grateful that he had a son capable of carrying a heifer or Bobo, the longhorn bull.

But there was sadness too for the Kent men, and they both shared moments of silence and reflection when Clark carried back a dead animal. Yes, some were livestock, but to Jon and Martha and Clark, many of the animals were more than that, they were furry or feathered friends. Clark solemnly buried the dead, and Jon wiped his eyes; maybe it was rain, maybe it was tears.

"That's the last one," Clark said after he washed the mud from his hands in a puddle and stood up. He walked and stood by his father.

"Wait...where's Bessie?" Jon said, and looked around. Bessie was the Kent's oldest, and most beloved cow; she was older than Jon, and always gave milk easily. Clark, too, was concerned (he learned how to milk a cow with her and whereas Chloe had a yellow rubber ducky to confide in, Bessie was Clark's confidant when he couldn't tell Pete secrets) and he scanned through the surrounding trees and through the hills.

"Dad! The fence went down...and Bessie is wrapped up in the barb wire!" Clark sped off while Jon cursed himself for not getting the cattle to safer ground earlier.

Clark ran as fast as the terrain let him; he was usually sure-footed but the mud made him skid and skip, and when he made it over the rise, the ground gave away, and Clark felt woozy, like when he was near the meteor rocks. He looked back to father but his see-through vision was gone.

"Dad," Clark murmured and slipped into the mud, and rushed down the hill with the dirty sludge and rain water. He kept rolling down the hill, too weak to gather his senses. Clark was shocked and scared; there wasn't any k-rocks on their land...was there? But the shock of possible k-rock on the farm was nothing compared to shock of the barbs hooking into his skin.

"Dad!" Clark yelled out, or thought he did. He was wrapped up in the wires, the barbs cutting up his jeans, jacket, tee shirt and flannel. He looked at Bessie and she mooed softly, more in pain than in greeting, and Clark's blood mixed with Bessie's in the muddy water.

Each movement, no matter how slight, hurt Clark. He normally didn't feel pain; nothing really could hurt him expect for...meteor rocks. But while he tried not to move, tried not to shake from the pain of the razor-edged barbs cutting into him even more, his mind raced. 'There's no rocks here...me and dad checked...," he thought and screamed again, but the mud on the hill gave a little more and the teen rolled again, tangling him up more in the razor-wire. Bessie bellowed out; she slid, too.

Clark's scanned for anything glowing green. The only thing he saw was the blades of grass; his vision- power wasn't working. He tried to gently tug at the wire, but that caused a barb to dig into his back even more. He reacted to that, and suddenly there were flashes of pain everywhere on his body. He forced himself to stay still. But it hurt so much.

Innocent droplets of rain hit the wire, sending shivers of agony into Clark. Was it the rain? Oh God. It happened right here, he thought. He closed his eyes. He remembered back to when he was twelve...

Summertime, and the sky was azure and not a single cloud to upset it. The temperature was high nineties and the scene was perfect for a Kent barbecue. Ribs and hamburgers were devoured and Pop Shoppe pop (the kids) and beer (some of the adults) were guzzled down. Family, friends and their kids were invited: Pete, of course made it to the party with his family, Lana and her aunt, Nell, and a few others. The Kents made it a point to invite the Toms and their daughter, Amanda; they were new to Smallville. Clark was eager to see Amanda; when their families first met, the two youngsters liked each other. Amanda thought Clark was cute, and he thought she was a hottie.

Before the barbecue, calls were made among the kids, and they followed Pete's idea, and the plan was simple: everyone bring a bucket of water balloons. The parents made sure that they stayed well away and the kids went to the hills. Clark carried his bucket, so did Pete. Lana forgot her pail, and decided to watch, especially since she was wearing wearing a white polo shirt and mint green pleated shorts. But Amanda wanted to catch Clark's eye, and wore simple black halter top, cut off shorts, and flip flops. That did get Clark's attention, and the ire of Lana; no one upstaged _her_. Lana sat on the grass to watch the water fight, waved to the boys, and hoped Amanda sprained an ankle.

Clark kept his distance from Lana (she wore a piece of meteor rock that killed her parents on her necklace, and besides THAT weirding Clark out, the rock's properties made him ill) and walked up the hill with Amanda. The kids split up into boys versus girls groups, and the parents and Aunt Nell heard shrieks of laughter coming from the hill.

But the old adage would come true: _it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt._

There is still controversy about what happened; one of the kids saw it but the aftermath to the rest was unmistakable in their minds: _Clark got beat down_.

"Ready...One...Two...Three...Go!" Pete yelled and everyone scattered, tossing the water balloons. Amanda grinned at Clark and ran down the hill. He took the jailbait and followed after her cut-offs. The slope of the hill was moderately steep and Amanda barely kept her balance running. By the time she made it to the bottom, Clark was right behind her.

She stepped in closer and faked a throw.

Clark was tall, skinny, and still not used to being so close to a girl, especially one dressed like Amanda. The only girl that he did try to get close to, Lana, made him spasmodic. He wasn't spasmodic around Amanda. But he was still a good-looking nerd. He got all excited and flung his water-balloon too hard at Amanda. He missed judged everything: his nascent super-strength, where to hit, windage, elevation, and the fact that she was smiling up at him didn't help him. He popped her in the eye. The white balloon's fragile covering burst on her eyeball.

Since she was three years old, Lana Lang had a re-occurring nightmare, about watching her parents getting incinerated in "The Great Meteor Shower of 1989". She'd wake up shaking and afraid. The sound that came from behind the hill would give her nightmares as well: Amanda let loose a prodigious scream.

"**ARRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!**"

The scream caused a chain reaction: Birds flew away...the horses were spooked...dogs whelped...Martha spilled her drink on Nell...Jon dropped his cowhide-silkscreened mug of beer...Alicia Baker sort of disappeared...Jodi Melville ran to the bathroom to eat and Sasha Woodman would complain later that her ears were buzzing. Pete, though, knew instinctively that Clark somehow screwed things up with that new girl, like step on her or something like that, and ran to see what happened to cause that scream.

Amanda kept screaming non-stop at Clark, who stood stunned. He tried to apologize but he was being drowned out by the continuous noise. The girl finally stopped and reached into her pail. the Tom's new home was newly built, and on land that was saturated with meteor rock. Their water pipes were so close the rocks that the piping was penetrated by the radiation contained within the rocks. One pipe rubbed against a meteor chunk lead to a faucet outside the house that lead to a hose that Amanda used to fill up the balloons. She reared back and threw her balloon and hit Clark square on his chest. He thought she was back in the game, until he felt the k-rock laced water touch his skin. He wobbled. She snarled and ran up to him, slamming another balloon into his chest hard. "See how you like it!"

Clark didn't like it. He _hated_ it. The feeling of weakness was surpassed by nausea and that was passed to pain and terror. The bundle of cuteness in front of him wasn't stopping; she kept popping her balloons on him. He dropped to his knees, out of breath, body racked with pain.

"Quit making fun of me!" Amanda yelled. "Quit being a wuss! Stop faking it!"

He wasn't a wuss. he wasn't faking. He was _dying_.

Amanda dropped to her knees and with both hands slammed the last of her balloons on Clark. Pete ran down the hill and saw his best friend getting clobbered. He was going to joke about Clark's smooth ways with the ladies, but he saw how his friend was...squirming and shuddering. Something was very wrong.

"Stop! Pete pushed Amanda aside. She fell back, and hit her head on a stone. She felt the back of head, felt stickiness and saw blood on her fingertips.

"You cracked my skull!" She screamed ...and passed out. Pete yelled out to Lana to get the parents to get help. Clark knew he needed to just get out of the wet clothes. For Amanda, it was a trip to the surprisingly busy Smallville Medical Center.

Thanks to the water balloon incident the barbecue was a bust with these net results: the kids, except Pete, thought Clark was Lord of the Wussies, Clark was afraid to shower for a week and Amanda had to wear a protective day-glo orange helmet with the optional reflectors into the new school year and the next one, too. Even today...Clark and Amanda look at each other warily in the school hallways...one thinking of pain from the attack, the other...of payback for having to wear a helmet.

Clark whimpered at the memory, wished Pete was here, not at the game, wished his father would walk over the rise, looked at the rain falling. The rainwater wasn't the cause of the pain; the cause was not above him, but below, wiggling in the mud and dirt.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter six**

After clamoring out of the gyro-copter and watching Eichmann and Himmler dismantled most of the copter, for easier storage and cover in the woods, Sivana walked and punched in his security code and marched into the Cadmus-Kathryn NeoPharmecuticals Laboratory facility. The mad scientist cursed to himself and picked at the clumps of dirt and mud and grass on his thickly soled boots. He hated Smallville. It was quaint, clean, and quiet. It wasn't like his Fawcett City. But Lionel's plan for Smallville did have it's amusements, he thought.

He got into the elevator and placed his palm on a sensor that only a few people knew of. The elevators sped past the levels that the scientists that would populate the facility would work, and go deeper, into areas that Luthorcorp had several construction companies build, so not one single entity knew of the lower levels' existences. The work on the facility was fast and problem-free, and no firm made public what they found in the caves under the lab.

LCD numbers, 33.1, glowed red, and the doors opened. The little deadly man went to his worktable and searched for Lionel's notes. He checked off two names: Ross and Kent; he knew that if Lionel wanted the land, he could he just take it. But to destroy the land, the very essence of the families' welfare, now that was brilliant. Destroy the topsoil...all the rich nutrients, and in the way Lionel suggested, as a dry run for future endeavors? Brilliant. He never thought grass-roots eco-terrorism could be so much _fun_.

Sivana went to the petri dishes and smiled at his green glowing babies. He waved his hand over them and the worms slithered and wiggled happily. He looked over to another table and saw his new partner-in-terror: Mister Mind. 'How are things coming along?' Sivana thought. And in a high pitched tone, the worm, spoke to him telepathically: "Wonderfully. The meteor rock, your serums, and the My worms are combining nicely." 

Sivana nodded to the alien creature. Mister Mind was not some anomaly in the animal kingdom, it was from from another planet; life on earth was not alone in the universe. And for a two inch green and yellow worm, he was as deadly as Sivana; he possessed the telepathy and the ability to mind control humans. Sivana was somehow immune to the control, and Mister Mind was immune to Sivana's toxins, no matter what the scientist created in the labs. Separately, they made life hell for Captain Marvel in Fawcett City.

And now, Sivana and Mister Mind were together in Smallville. And if they knew that they already causing pain and suffering to the Kent family, they would share a laugh, a maniacal laugh.


End file.
